So I've been arrested twice. The first time was when I was 19. The second came when I was 22. First a misdemeanor, then a felony.
My misdemeanor arrest was one of the craziest experiences of my life. I've always wanted to write about that experience and I'd like to share that story with you all now. For future reference I'm almost 24, but that doesn't really apply to the story at hand. Also, all the names of the participants and locations have not been changed due to certain reasons that apply to how the story unwinds. Every word of this is true but this will be very long. Fair warning: this shit gets crazy so here we go.

In order to understand everything our story has to begin with a little insight into my personal life. Let's travel back to July 2011. I'm a senior in high school and I finally get my first job at a local Taco Bell. While working there I meet the person who would later become my best friend. His name is Joe, and we're still friends to this day. I'm the godfather to his son, and I've been asked to be the best man at his wedding later this year. At first, we hated each other for a few different reasons(I think everyone hates their best friend to begin with). So the months begin to pass, we start smoking together at the job, and slowly we begin to develop our friendship. He's about a year younger than me and we went to different high schools. In high school he was known as Joe the Hoe because of his promiscuous behavior. Because of this he starts to help me try to find a girlfriend and lose my virginity(yeah, I was a good kid). In December of that year I finally take him up on that offer. He gives me the number to a girl he used to mess around with named Madison. I start texting Madison and everything's going good. A few days after Christmas he notices me texting her while we're working and tells me to ask her if she'd like to hang out on New Year's Eve. I told him to let me take my time, but he takes my phone and does it for me. Surprisingly, she agrees and the plan is for Joe and I to go to her house for a few hours before we head to a party we put together. We arrive at her house around 7 to her home alone, and things immediately grow awkward. We trade simple banter while watching a movie and eventually it's time for us to leave for the party(she didn't want to go). He walks out first and she shuts the door after him. I start to give her a hug but she kisses me instead. After a few kisses Madison tells me she doesn't want me to leave, and I agree with her. I walk outside to tell Joe what happened and ask him to take me to my car which I left at Taco Bell so I can drive back myself. He reluctantly agrees and drops me off after giving me a bit of warning. I arrive back at Maddie's house and we get comfortable on her couch. After about an hour or so of watching T.V. and talking she excuses herself to the bathroom. So I take the opportunity to stretch out and when she comes back she gets on top of me and we start making out. This goes on for a while until Maddie gets a phone call from her sister who says she's on her way home. Maddie asks me if I'd like to continue this elsewhere and, of course, I agree. We drive to a park that's a few miles from her house and have sex in the backseat of my car. The best part out of all of this is that I didn't even know this girl's last name. I asked her for it after we were done and holding each other while we were still naked. We talk for another hour and I drop her back off at her house knowing we'd see each other again soon. While driving to my house I call Joe and told him what happened. This motherfucker is so proud of me that he announces to everyone around him at the party that I just lost my virginity. I tell him I'm forever in his debt for helping me out so much. A few days pass while Maddie and I grow fond of each other and eventually I ask her to be my girlfriend. Joe, however, is completely against this idea and tells me she's not worth it. I go against his wishes because I really did like her and the sex was pretty good. So animosity begins to grow between Joe and I. We started dating around mid-January, and Joe continues to tell me this will end badly. I ignore him while Maddie and I get more and more serious. However, even though we're dating I only get to see her on the weekends. During the week she spends her time at her grandparent's house in a separate town where she goes to school and I'm working until 10 o'clock 5 nights a week. This routine continues until April when I get so frustrated with Taco Bell that I quit mid-shift on a saturday and leave to head to her house. At this point I lose all contact with Joe. A few weeks after I quit we broke up because Maddie's family found out I smoked. I didn't want the relationship to end so I beg for a chance to talk to her mother to try and reverse things. She agrees and one night I head over knowing this probably won't work. At first, her mom doesn't want any part of me but eventually I get her to see the light. She tells me I'm on "probation" and while I'm not allowed to "date" her daughter I can still see Maddie until she's comfortable with me again. So here's where I fucked up. Her mother goes outside to smoke a cigarette and leaves Maddie and I alone. We get a little frisky and begin kissing which leads to me fingering Maddie on her couch. With my hand still down Maddie's pants, suddenly I hear "Casey, I think it's time for you to go now" and turn around to see her mother giving me the death stare. I apologize to her mother but she doesn't want to hear it and threatens to call the police before kicking me out. So at this point my relationship with Maddie is over. Because of the way it ended I become pretty depressed and spend the next few months in isolation. In June of that year I graduate high school and walk into the summer without a job, money, or really anyone to talk to. This continues until October when Joe calls me out of the blue saying there's a new general manager at Taco Bell and she'd like me to come in for an interview. Her name was Charity and after firing a lot of shitty people she needed some good workers. Joe mentioned my name and I agreed to talk to her about getting rehired. So in October of 2012 I start round two of Taco Hell. Once I'm back, Joe and I resume our friendship after I ask him to forgive me for everything that happened. Over a blunt, he tells me he understands but I have to promise him that I would never fall for a girl like that again. Work goes pretty nicely and after a few months I'm promoted to head closer and food line lead. Around February of 2013 a woman named Leighann transfers from another Taco Bell in the city to be a manager. Joe and I absolutely despite her. She's truly a bitch in every sense of the word but I end up becoming really good friends with her girlfriend Shenia, who also works with us. At this point my car becomes the smoking spot at work due to me always having weed. I loved most of my fellow coworkers and I smoke with anyone that asks. I always used to park my car next to the dumpster out of the street lights so no one can really see what we're all up to. We also used to smoke inside all the time once the front lobby was closed because the restaurant didn't have working cameras at this point. It's crazy now to think about all the stupid shit we did at that place and I couldn't be happier with my first-job experience. Anyway, later in April a 21 year old girl named Leanna was hired and she would go on to become a manager. She was cute but she had a boyfriend so I left her alone at first. The weeks began to pass and I started hearing rumors that Leanna has been talking a lot about me. It seemed that she thought I was cute too and really wanted to fuck me. For some reason though I refused to talk to her directly about all this mainly due to the her already having a boyfriend thing. During all of this Joe becomes a manager as well and tries to get me to simply talk to Leanna about her feelings. Finally, one Friday night in the middle of July while Leanna and I are closing alone I ask her if she likes me. She answers yes and I tell her I like her also. We agree that night that while she has a boyfriend she'd like to leave him and see where we go after that. The next night I have to close again while Leighann is the manager. I arrive around 5 and Joe, who is still doing manager training, gets into an arguement with Leighann over her allowing me to go on break so Joe and I can go out to my car and smoke. Before getting to work that day Joe had put in for some weed so I picked up a twenty sack. I kept mine in my usual medicine bottle and also kept his in a separate container in my car until it was time for him to leave. During their exchange of words Leanna arrives because she wanted to introduce me to her best friend, Kati. They were headed out for a night of drinking but wanted to stop by beforehand. Around 9:30, Joe finally convinces Leighann to let me go on break and we ask the girls if they'd like to smoke too. They agreed, so the four of us headed to my car parked by the dumpster and I began to roll up. I'm of course in the driver seat, Joe was in the passenger, Leanna behind him and Kati was behind me(this becomes important later). Everytime I rolled I would always do it over a folded piece of paper which helped collect the little bits that tend to fall out. Once I was done with the blunt I put the piece of paper, which still had a little bit of weed in it, in the tight space between my seat and center console. Most of the time we would just smoke out of one of the homemade pieces I usually kept stashed in my car, but the girls wanted to smoke a blunt. I light it and pass it to Joe. It goes around and then comes back to me. I pass it once again and when Joe tries to pass it to Leanna behind him suddenly we see a spotlight behind us. I will never forget Joe saying "Oh shit, that's a fucking cop" and dropping the blunt into Leanna's floorboard. Before the cops get out of their cruiser there are a few moments of hysteria in my car. However, I sit patiently while the others are freaking out because I understand the situation and have accepted my fate. The cop walks up, opens my door without knocking on the glass, and asks "Where's the weed?" I hand him my pill bottle and he examines the little amount that's in it. He says "I might just get rid of that" and tells me to step out of the car. I do and he motions me to stand by his cruiser. He gets the rest of the passengers out of my car and the cops begin to search through everything. While I'm just waiting to go to jail, Joe is freaking out. He keeps pacing back and forth, looking like at any moment he's about to swing at the cop and yell for everyone to run. One of the cops actually tells him to sit on the hood of the cruiser because Joe's making him nervous. After a few minutes of searching they find the container with Joe's weed and ask who did it belong to. I answer that it was mine also and I'm instructed that I'm about to be placed under arrest as the officer pulls his handcuffs from his belt. I've replayed this memory in my head more times than I can count. It was sickening listening to the clicking of the locks inside the cuffs as they tightened around my wrists. Over the years I've been asked several times why I took all the blame and would I do it again? The simple answer is hell yeah, I would. Joe was in the R.O.T.C. program at his high school, eyeing a military career, and soon to be graduated so I wasn't about to allow anything to happen that would ruin his future. Besides, I owed him one. From that day forward we've always looked out for each other. Anyway, so I'm hand cuffed and put in the back of the cop car. Because it's a hot summer night the cops were friendly enough to let my window down. At this point they also found some of my homemade pieces in the trunk. After finding my gravity bong one of the cops was showing it off and had to ask me how it worked. During this time they also find the blunt in Leanna's floor board. The cops end up wanting to arrest her as well citing since it was technically in her "possession" the blunt belonged to her. I begged them not to take her also but I was told to shut up. At this point a friend of Joe and I, Cooper, comes flying into the parking lot. He lived a few minutes from Taco Bell and was waiting for Joe to come over after he got off. He jumps out of his car screaming "What the hell is going on?" The cops look at him with hands on their guns and say "If you don't want to be arrested too you'll get back in your car and get out of here." Cooper surveys the situation and simply says "Okay" before leaving. While this is happening I get the occasional glimpse of Leighann the manager coming to the glass door to see what's going. At some point she called our restaurant manager, Charity, who in turn calls our regional manager, Miss Linda. Suddenly I see Miss Linda's company truck pull into the parking lot and I know my night is about to get even worse. I can see her walk up to Joe and Leanna to ask them what happened. She spends a moment listening to their story then walks over to me sitting in the cruiser. I start to apologize and begin to ramble when she tells me that it was alright, and that her and I would talk later. Before walking away she actually wishes me good luck. Even though my car was on private property the police decided to tow it, which is why I still haven't been taken to jail yet. The tow truck arrives and the officers tell me that we're about to leave. Up until the point that we finally drive away I still don't know whether they are taking Leanna to jail as well, and I'm very worried about her. I arrived at the booking around 11 and they put me in a holding cell with another recently arrested guy. We proceed to share our stories to kill the time. He told me that his fiance's little sister ran away from home and ended up at their house. The cops came knocking and when he opened the door they asked if the girl was there, to which he answered no. They enter the home anyway, and find her hiding in a closet. So they take her away and also arrest the guy for "obstruction of government operations" for simply denying that she was there. After about an hour they take him away and leave me to contemplate everything that just happened by myself. Around 1 that morning, they come get me to take fingerprints and mugshots. I had yet to remove my work clothes so I get my picture taken in my Taco Bell uniform. I'm also allowed the chance to call my mother and explain everything that happened. She says she's disappointed in me but she'll soon be on the way to get me out. Once I'm finally booked they toss me into the drunk tank with a blanket. The place is crowded so I find an empty spot and stretch out on the floor. I'm too wired to fall asleep so I laid there and watched everyone all night while using my work shirt as a pillow. After about two hours, I hear a commotion and look up to see three cops semi-carrying a huge black guy into the room. This guy was massive, around 6'3" 300 pounds and he's fucking wasted. They leave him on a bench and he immediately passes out. It gets quiet once again for a few minutes until this dude starts stirring and falls off the bench. Unfortunately, there was this skinny white guy sleeping under the bench and the black guy falls directly on his legs. Pinned underneath this mountain of a man, the skinny guy starts screaming "Get the fuck off me" but the black guy doesn't move a muscle. Finally after a few seconds the white guy has to try to lift this dude up a little and pull his legs out. I couldn't help myself and joined the laughs of the others in the cell. I was informed later that during my time in holding Joe and Cooper, who had went back to Cooper's house after the scene at Taco Bell and got drunk, decided they should drive down to the jailhouse to get me out. They argued with the woman at the entrance desk but she had no time to play games. She told them if they didn't want to join me and be arrested for public intox and minor in possession that they needed to leave. Thankfully, those idiots followed her advice and left. Around 5 that morning we're all served a breakfast of cereal and a piece of old ham. I honestly didn't even want to touch it but since I hadn't eaten in almost 12 hours I take a few bites anyway. At this time I'm informed that my mother is here to get me out but I have to wait another hour due to the jail going through a shift change. Finally around 6, I hear my name called and I'm released. My mom and brother are there waiting for me, and after telling my mom I'm starving we all head to a local Hardee's to grab a biscuit. I arrived home after 7 and walked straight to my room to fall asleep since I wasn't supposed to work that day. I woke up at 11 and grabbed my phone to see what happened after I rode away from Taco Bell in the cop car. I find out that they didn't actually arrest Leanna. Her friend Kati started flirting with one of the cops and said she wouldn't be able to get home because she had ridden up there with Leanna. Thankfully, they let them go. After I had left, Joe and Leanna told Miss Linda that they were sorry and would bring in their uniforms the next day. Miss Linda, being the awesome woman that she is, asked them why they would do that and said that she still expected them to come in that Sunday morning to open. So while I'm still asleep they both went in to work. Once I'm awake the three of us make plans to meet up and smoke that day. Joe picks me up from my house, since my car is still impounded, and we head to Leanna's. We smoke for a bit, but then decide to head out since Leanna's boyfriend is on his way home. We decide to head to our normal after hours smoking spot which is a field out by Joe's house. I ride with Leanna because she had never been there, and we follow behind Joe. We all pull up and I begin to roll a blunt. We talk some more about the crazy experience we all just had the night before and agree that we're so thankful for the way it turned out. Day turns to night, and after a few hours Joe informs us that he has to go home and asks Leanna and I what we're about to do. We both look at each other and I ask her if she just wants to hang out at my house for a while. She agrees and we head back there. It's awkward at first so I turn on the T.V. and find a movie that we both like. I still remember it was that Adam Sandler movie Little Nicky, and we watch it until it's over. We're sitting on the couch with my arm around her waist and while the credits are rolling she turns to me and asks "You're just waiting to do something, aren't you?" I, in fact, was and nod my head with a shy smile. She looks me in the eyes and says "Well, you can kiss me if you want." So I do, very lightly at first, and then things get a little heated(not to toot my own horn but I'm a pretty good kisser) so I ask her if she wants to go to my bedroom. She laughs while she gets up and grabs my hand to lead me into my room. We end up having sex that night and honestly it was perfect in every way. I went from telling Leanna I liked her on Friday, to being arrested on Saturday, and then on Sunday night having sex with her. The story that happened over that weekend will always be one of the highlights of my life, but it's not over yet. The next day I'm still off work and my mom takes me to get my car out of the impound. While following behind my mom on the way back I start looking around to see what the cops moved. I notice a little bit of white sticking out of the space between my seat and the center console and just start shaking my head. I already know it's the folded piece of paper that I rolled over that Saturday night. I start whispering to myself "those stupid pigs" as I pull it out and stare at the little bit of weed still in it. It wasn't much but I went straight home and smoked all of it. It honestly was a God-send because I was out of green and really needed a high by myself after all the bullshit that I just endured. The next day I had a meeting with Charity and Miss Linda, and I went in to work fully expecting to be fired. I don't even think I came in with a uniform on. We sat down at a table and I was startled to find Miss Linda wasn't worried about the situation at all. She said she liked me and my work ethic and, while she was slightly upset that I took my mugshots still in my work uniform, I could still keep my job as long as I never mentioned any of it ever again. She basically told me to forget it ever happened. Charity was fucking shocked. She had this crazy look of bewilderment on her face during the entire conversation and only spoke maybe three times during the whole ten minutes. I thanked Miss Linda with a hug and ran off the restroom to get changed. For the longest time I thought that's where our story ended but I was very wrong. On the night of my arrest, Leighann called her girlfriend Shenia to come and help close in my place. After they both got off work around 2 that morning that rode out to my house to tell my mom what happened if she hadn't already heard. I had always thought that was really weird but then I found out why. After a few months I found out it was Leighann who had actually called the police. She was so upset with Joe after their argument and she thought that he would be the one to go to jail that night. What's worse is that later I heard she was bragging about it and threatened anyone who misbehaved on her shift that she would get them arrested too. It sickens me to know that I once called them both friends, but this experience taught me something very important: you can not change the past. I also learned so much about life and how to manage every hostile situation that I encounter. It kick started one of the funnest relationships I've ever had(the one with Leanna) and it sure did give me one hell of a story that I'll keep with me for the rest of my life. Like I mentioned earlier, I've been asked so many times if I would do it again and I have a simple answer: of course I would, and I wouldn't change any of it. Expect maybe the Leighann thing, fuck that bitch.